Lending executive is concerned that investors will get tired of waiting and move on to something else
The uneven landscape of commercial real estate has left even investors guessing on where they should dive into the market. One executive is concerned that if market conditions don’t improve soon, some of those investors will move on and invest elsewhere.
Brian Good (pictured top), CEO of iBorrow, said that while some deals are still getting done, others continue on hold.
“It's choppy, in fits and spurts, is the way I would describe it,” Good told Mortgage Professional America. “Everybody is anticipating some sort of big rush and accelerator being stepped on for acquisitions, and it’s just not happening. There are two sides to this: where’s the distress coming from, and where’s the new stuff coming from. And a lot of money on the sidelines, apparently. It just hasn’t hit yet.”
Part of the issue Good sees is the mixed messaging with both monetary and fiscal policy, which is making it hard for commercial investors to plan ahead.
“It starts from the top, and we don’t have a clear direction of where the economy is going, where interest rates are going, which is a big driver of this,” he said. “There’s no one, three, or five-year plan, no fault of anybody. Investors like certainty, and they are really shying away from this space because it’s a little more uncertain than normal.”
Investors are impatient
For brokers and lenders, the CRE space is about trying to get deals put together before investors decide they want to take their money elsewhere.
“I think something that might be overlooked is that people might be thinking that in 2008 through 2010, there's all this money on the sideline ready to pounce and go into real estate,” Good said. “At some point, that money goes away. They get tired and they find other investments that are similar or more beneficial. So, yes, there's all this money waiting to pounce. But eventually they get tired of it. They try to invest in other things. I think that people should be wary of that.”
Jeff Brown, CEO of T2 Capital Management, says the market is slowly regaining visibility on cap rates and rent growth, allowing buyers to make more informed bids.https://t.co/68q1onKtci
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) August 18, 2025
Good said for those looking for the right sectors to get into, one area where there are still places for deals to get done is in the multifamily space.
“I think the opportunities are in multifamily,” he said. “It hit a bubble, and I think prices were reset, and I think there are opportunities for investors to pick and choose properties at a better basis than they could have three, four, or five years ago. We try to help them with those types of acquisitions, and we're more comfortable because we're 80% of a price that’s 30% or 40% less than it was three or four years ago.
“Then there are sectors within multifamily and sectors within industrial that are becoming bigger, like cold storage. And then in multifamily, you see student housing, which we do, and 55 and over, which we'll look at.”
Hotels, office space struggling
One area that Good believes is improving is retail space, although he cautions brokers and lenders to be careful with those deals. He also believes that hotels are an area that requires the right situation to move forward.
“I think retail is better, but you’ve got to be careful,” he said. “I think you can find good retail to land on. I think hotels, you have to be very selective. I think hotels are tougher. One of our largest loans is a hotel. But we know we have a big sponsor, a big city, a big MSA, and a big flag. That's what you need.”
Smaller hotel deals present a problem, largely due to the nationwide decline in travel. Las Vegas saw an 11.3% drop in visitors in June. Miami’s airport saw its first year-over-year decline in the first half of 2025 since 2017.
“I think tertiary hotels are a problem,” Good said. “I think business centers, hotels, convention centers, that kind of stuff is problematic. But you just want to be careful on hotels, because it's more of an operating business than the rest of the real estate that's out there. I think fewer people are traveling this year. People who can afford to travel will travel, but the middle part of that was soft, and I think that hurt hotels, which is reflected in the numbers. “
One sliver of good news for the office space is that Good is seeing areas where they would have automatically said no to deals over the last couple of years, and now they're starting to require a closer look.
“We’re full speed ahead with multifamily and industrial,” he said. “I think retail is great, hotels, mixed office. Where we would say definitively no for the last couple of years, like a medical office, we haven't pulled the trigger yet, but we're at least looking at it. It still feels very risky to make a loan on office, no matter how settled the rent roll is, or how new the building is or how well located it is, it just seems very risky for our portfolio. It's a really tough play.”
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